Lady Bridget’s Diary is, structurally speaking, a total mess, and I didn’t believe a single thing that happened in it. However, the characters are delightful. I read this when I was down with the same cold that was afflicting everyone in America that particular week, and it was great for my humble purposes at the time: it was solidly entertaining and enjoyable, and I didn’t have to think a lot. Lady Bridget’s Diary is, naturally, … Continue reading Lady Bridget’s Diary by Maya Rodale →
I have made no secret about my love for home renovation shows. It’s all part of the wish fufillment genre of a home I’ll never be able to afford to own and to fix it up in a way I’ll never be able to afford to do. (Unless I fall madly in love with a dude with a crumbling estate that needs someone to organize the renovation, in which case I AM READY FOR THAT TASK.) … Continue reading A Duchess in Name by Amanda Weaver →
Dukes Prefer Blondes is a book with irresistible characters, a great plot, and tons of witty banter. Y’all know how dearly I love a battle of wits, and this couple just never slows down on the battlefront. It would be A+ material if not for the extremely odd construction. It feels like this book is one draft short of finished, and also like it’s two books crammed into one. Here’s the plot, and I’m going … Continue reading Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase →
Eloisa James is one of my favorite authors, and by favorite I mean I squeed so hard at her at RT that she may have taken out a restraining order. Redheadedgirl can attest to this. I may have peed a little. So when she releases a new book, I’m always excited and a little nervous because I’m filled with so much expectation. I am happy to report that My American Duchess was amazing and worked … Continue reading My American Duchess by Eloisa James →
Fans of the Pennyroyal Green series have been waiting a long time for The Legend of Lyon Redmond. For those unfamiliar with the series, the Redmonds and the Everseas are the two most powerful, prestigious families of Pennyroyal Green. They are also at odds with each other, like Regency Capulet and Montagues. So OF COURSE an Eversea falls in loves with a Redmond. It’s destiny. This is book eleven in the series and up until … Continue reading The Legend of Lyon Redmond by Julie Anne Long →
The Curse of Lord Stanstead by Mia Marlowe is a delightful blend of romance and paranormal. It’s like a Regency X-Men with hints of Hellboy and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I know a lot of you just sat up real straight: catnip alert ahoy! This is the first book in the MUSE series, MUSE standing for Metaphysical Union of Sensory Extraordinaires. Sticking with my earlier analogy, the Professor X of this group would be the … Continue reading The Curse of Lord Stanstead by Mia Marlowe →
In the final book in the Prelude to a Kiss series, Erin Knightley explores the idea of a second love, and works her way around a potentially incurable case of Nice Guy in the hero. Ten years ago, Gavin Stark (a Family Stark that’s got less bad luck and more political acumen than the Winterfell Starks) was about to declare himself to his best friend and object of his affection Lady Felicity, but before he could, she … Continue reading The Viscount Risks It All by Erin Knightley →
Oftentimes the romance novel ends when the special license is procured and the vows are said, and the happily ever after is assured. This one begins when the very traditional courtship is over and the vows are said and the heroine goes, “Thank fucking god now I can be myself” and the hero goes “Wait what.” Nathaniel Gresham is a Viscount and the heir to a duke, and he has five rambunctious younger brothers. “And … Continue reading Heir to the Duke by Jane Ashford →
I have never read a book by Alissa Johnson before, and after I read A Talent for Trickery I had that “Nomnomnommoremoremore” feeling which is a problem because Alissa has written a ton of other books and I don’t know when I’ll find time to read them all. But I do know that I want to read them NOW. Because A Talent for Trickery was so good, you guys. Really superlative. I ate it up. … Continue reading A Talent For Trickery by Alissa Johnson →
It took me awhile to really get into The Spinster’s Guide to Scandalous Behavior by Jennifer McQuiston. I’m not sure if that was totally the fault of the book or the fact that my brain is exhausted from my day job and I’m slowly crawling out of a reading slump. The book is brimming with awesome feminism and a beta-hero I loved, but it felt a little like the beginning dragged. Miss Lucy Westmore is a … Continue reading The Spinster’s Guide to Scandalous Behavior by Jennifer McQuiston →
Rarely has a book with such a glorious title fallen so tragically flat. The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin tells of Pirate Captain Gayle, who abducts a seamstress, Celia. She does this because she needs someone to stitch up a wounded man, the ship’s doctor is dead, and none of the pirates can sew. Since I’m pretty sure a lot of pirates could sew quite nicely for practical reasons in real life, this … Continue reading The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin by Colette Moody →
